Book Review: The Lover is about a 15 year-old French girl in an affair with a 27 year-old Chinese man. Marguerite Duras has transformed Lolita or a Mishima novel, has told the story from the girl's perspective. What could be another (& another, & another ...) tired, middle-aged man's fantasy of "love" with a young girl, is turned on its head due to the unique, detailed descriptions, the depth of contemplation and reflection presented, and the unnatural maturity of the girl. The powerful writing and point of view make it escape stereotype. The story (written 50 years after) is told in first and third person, is told in bits of thought, pieces of feeling, scraps of memory, fragments of impression. Most of the passages in The Lover are less than a page, which makes this short book fly. Family is central, a missing father, a domineering mother, a cruel older brother, and a fragile younger one. The setting is Saigon during the French colonial period. Race, too, is here. The lover is wealthy, not overly strong, infatuated, obsessed (he puts her make-up on). They talk little. The girl is intelligent, pondering, learning, exploring the world, religion, love and lust, learning where her desires lie, where her future might be. The Lover is a subtle, delicately told story, major moments come quietly, almost in passing. To tell too much might break it. There is the thought and feeling of the 15 year-old girl seen through the lens of a sixty-year old woman in every line. A small story, but the story of a life. This is a book worth owning, to read again, and find more on each reading. [4½★]
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